Ricciardo did not expect Albon: "His pace was frustrating to see"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
For a moment it looked as if Daniel Ricciardo was going to get his first podium with Renault in Mugello. After the last restart he was second behind Lewis Hamilton. However, he was soon overtaken by Valtteri Bottas and later also by Alexander Albon. However, the Australian had not seen that coming.
Ricciardo showed his surprise to Motorsport-Total.com. "I thought to myself: 'Where did this pace suddenly come from? Towards the end of the race, Albon suddenly took a big step. It was frustrating." Albon was especially fast in the last sector. "So he was able to ride in my slipstream and get DRS. That was the decisive sector, and there he seemed to be really strong," Ricciardo explains. Once Albon was over, the Renault rider could accept it. "In the back of my mind I thought: 'Okay, the boy has never been on the podium.
Even though his race just missed out on a podium, Ricciardo looks back on the race positively. "You need more downforce here and we weren't particularly strong on circuits like this," recalls Ricciardo. "So the result at Mugello is really encouraging." The Renault driver sees that the car is getting better and better. "It's still very tight in midfield, but on Sunday our race space is certainly solid. If we qualify in front we will be in a good position".